I made the mistake of posting this on the CMP forums...clearly wrong attention band width, its not got to do with M1 Rifle . I won't dismiss I might be the last interested in this rifle and the "concept" but I'm not about to be the last to drink the Kool Aid and buy one. Want to believe but can't .

Here goes here:

Jeff Coopers Scout Rifle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BD2tCsV2uA

First, the above is good back ground data to consider in order to understand Coopers concept and focus.

Someone told me this rifle was a pistol experts idea of a perfect rifle and although said jokingly, that might not be too far off the mark 30 some years after Steyr produced it. There are criteria for what a Scout Rifle is and the Steyr model comes closest to that but the real question is what purpose does it really fit and that is where I have always been in doubt.

This is not an inexpensive rifle ..either when it first hit market or at present time. Its a purpose built rifle for a purpose but is that purpose relevant? It was to Cooper for some hunting purposes he had in mind, it was the perfect rife for courses of fire at his Gunsite training school, beyond that, its a 18" Winchester caliber 308 bolt action rifle with 2.5X optic. Nice rifle , nice brush gun but so is a 30 30 Winchester Model 94.

The Steyr Scout fits me perfectly. I had some time training Saudi infantry 8th battalion (The Fighthing 8th ...cough cough, what a soup sandwich they were) outside of Tabuk in NW Saudi Arabia. This battalion had Steyr Scout rifles for their sniper rifle . These were brand new and we trained them to use them, in the course of that , I got a lot of time on the Scout Rifle. I liked it, well made, fast to acquire targets with , ergonomics perfect for me and at best, it might be a DMR rifle for a rifle squad ...but in desert / arid regions the 2.5x optic was useless. The Scout Rifle 18" barrel limits range and the Middle East /North Africa is hardly carbine country. You need a rifle that can reach out and the probable effective range of the Scout is 300 yards. In hands of some (certainly not the Fighting 8th), at 600 yds one could put effective fires on a target . In sum, a carbine has limitations and this is just that , a carbine.

I'd like to have one but not at the price then or today. I have no idea what I'd use it for, I have more than enough deer rifles , I am not going to Gun Site and there are other solutions in 2021 that fulfil whatever the Scout Rifle was envisioned to do by Cooper.

Today we have small DOT optics with 3 MOA reticles. Mounted on the Steyr Scout, they are faster to use than the forward mounted Leupold 2.5x optic. Such modern DOT optics can be mounted on the Steyr or any rifle in the normal location of a rifle scope. Thus the forward long eye relief scope on Steyr Scout is an out dated optic solution for the quick target acquisition criteria that Cooper established.

Cooper wanted fast reloading. Many rifles today take magazines so the Steyr Scout has no advantage there. Certainly in Coopers day, few rifles did but today is today.

Cooper wanted 308 Caliber and certainly many rifles with 18" barrels , 308 Caliber, optic ready exist today.

In fact a M1A Scout or Socom 16 with DOT optic , or a AR 10 ...all 308 caliber, fast loading, Optic Ready, magazine fed and "handy" fast rifles do everything Cooper had in mind. All have iron sighs for back up just like Steyr Scout does. Maybe not in weight, they may weigh a pound more (or less) than Coopers set in stone non negotiable weight limit but as the video explains...Steyr Scout which Cooper declared as the ultimate perfection of his "Scout Rifle" does not make that weight limit either ! Sacre' Bleu

I'm scratching my watch and winding my ****** here. I am down to the Steyr Scout stock fits me perfectly and that is about all the wonderfulness I can find . That worth the market price of $1600 to $1900 ? Certainly it does not as I am fine with other rifles .

Nice rifle, I like it , can't find a requirement it serves. I think the Steyr Scout which is the epic Scout rifle design of Coopers vision is like coastal artillery. Relevant maybe back in the past , for a requirement long gone.

I am back where I started over 30 yrs ago...awesome rifle but what would I use it for.